Catching Up With Myself

I am catching up with myself on this Monday morning, after sharing the weekend with several of our beloved grandchildren. Our time together included roasting marshmallows over our backyard campfire, storytelling and songs at bedtime, French Toast for breakfast, craft projects, juice-making, an excursion to Deer Creek, lots of indoor and outdoor play, and a big Sunday School rock-painting project at church.

On Sunday afternoon, after the last of our grandkids got picked up, Guari and I ate lunch on the deck, while listening to the chirping of the cicadas and marveling at how quiet and still it was. Then we took a long, luscious nap. By evening I was energized enough to finish writing the Earth Justice Ministries “May Projects and Campaigns” web page, which Guari then edited, formatted, and published, working late into the night.

Today, for me, is a catch-up day. Thank God catching up with myself and getting back to a sense of order isn’t the kind of ordeal it used to be. I don’t have to peel myself up and start all over from scratch. It’s not such a long way back.

What helps is having a clear sense of priorities, regardless of what is going on around me. My first and most important priority is my foundation in God, the Source, who has many names but is indefinable, the One “in whom we live and move and have our being.” To nurture this connection, I regularly practice meditation and contemplative prayer.

Although I am a follower of Christ, I continue to gain insights from other intellectual, spiritual, and faith traditions, including Buddhism. In Joyful Wisdom, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche talks about practicing “stable awareness” and explains how we can use anything as a “support for meditation.” I love this idea, and I’m using it on a daily basis. These Buddhist teachings ring true to my experience and translate for me into Christian terms, such as “practicing the presence of God.”

Cultivating “stable awareness” and “practicing the presence of God” creates an order in my life even in the midst of apparent disorder and enables me to discern the next thing I can do to bring love, harmony, and order out of chaos. This morning I spent time in prayer and meditation. I took a walk with Guari. We shared our dreams, prayed in the four directions, and did Tai Chi. My plan now is to catch up on some of the things that didn’t get done over the weekend, including household chores. I’ll post this blog and make a nice lunch. Oh, and yes, I’ll take another nap.